Letters Home from a Yankee Doughboy 1916-1919

The 26th “Yankee” Division was formed in August, 1917 at Camp Bartlett in Westfield, Mass (Read about the 26th Division here). In Westfield today, Apremont Park memorializes the sacrifice of the 104th Infantry Regiment during the Great War.

Following is a collection of photos courtesy of reader Donna (Anderson) Blews that show the beauty and detail of this memorial park.

Camp Bartlett, Westfield, Mass. was named for Gen. William F. Bartlett, of Haverhill,Mass. The encampment was first set up in 1905, it was used for State Militia exercises, until that time they had been held in South Framingham,Mass.The 2nd Inf Reg. Mass Vol Militia/National Guard came for drill practice. Four troops of cavalry came to Camp Bartlett. The troops had horses, but some horses were transported to the camp by train. The railroad was the New Haven Railroad, and it had a spur track into the camp. The trolley used the same line to the camp as well. Infintry totaled two brigades.The area was better suited for practice that their previous training grounds in
South Framingham,Mass. Camp Bartlett being a tent camp was occpied by the 103rd and 104th Infantry Regiments and the 103rd Machine gun Battalion from July 25 to September 1917 by the 52nd Brigade, 26th Yankee Division.They were in operation for fourteen weeks and thirteen thousand men were stationed there prior to being sent over to France for WWI. There was security so civilians were not allowed to visit the camp.With the exception of August 26th, the camp was open to civilians, and 100,000 persons visited the camp. During the Great Depression, the camp was also used a CCC Camp(Civilian Conservation Corp). Now it is the site of Barnes Airport. The 104th Infantry Apremont Park monument is on RT 10/202(Southampton Road in Westfield,Ma)

On March 15, 2013 at 2:04 pm Donna (Anderson) Blews said:

To view photos of Camp Bartlett, the Westfield Anthenaeum has three books published by the Arcadia Publishing company volumn 1 and the Vintage Post Card volumns are the ones that have the photos of Camp Bartlett. Go to Arcadias website for info, they also have a Military section with more Camps listed.